The 53rd Signal Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (unit patch) was approved on 5 August 1986, just under ten months after it had been reorganized and redesignated from the 53rd Signal Group. Its personnel would wear the unit patch for a little over eleven years, up until it was redesignated as the 417th Signal Battalion on 1 October 1997, bringing an end to its service as “Guards Of Peace.”
Lightning flashes are a common element on Signal Corps insignia, representing both the communication mission and the speed of modern day transmissions. Below the chief are five vertical stripes alternating in orange and white; the five stripes combined with the three lightning flashes are an allusion to the unit’s numerical designation.
In the chief, a red saltire recalls the saltire the covers the breadth and height of the Florida state flag, indicating the Brigade’s home state. A gold star superimposed over the intersection of the saltire represents the unit’s location at Tallahassee; it also is a symbol of excellence in achievement.
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